It looks like more snow is on the way so the big news this week is that we should be able to head up and finish our Ski and Ride season on Friday. We will be hosting a pizza party at lunch sponsored by the PTO. Students should still bring food for snacks and lots of water. Families are welcome to join. Lunch will start at about 12:15pm. We hope to see many of you then. Also, keep an eye out for a separate email from me about returning season rental equipment. 

In Field Study class we have continued our exploration of the universe. This past week we have learned more about asteroids, meteors, comets, and meteorites. I passed back all graded work today and several students have some missed assignments to complete. They should now all know exactly what they need to do to be caught up. 

In Health class each group has been covering a different topic lately. The K-1 class has been learning about empathy, emotions, and how to handle challenging emotions like anger. The 2-3 grade class has been learning about families lately. We learned that families take many shapes and sizes and that each family has its own unique gifts and challenges. The 4-8 graders spent last week learning more about mental health and then we jumped into a discussion on puberty yesterday for grades 5+.

In Humanities, Blue Bay students completed their Ancient China unit with a test including multiple choice questions, fill in the blanks, short answer questions, and a paragraph or essay question depending on their grade level. We have officially moved onto our studies of Ancient Greek culture. Each student has a class book which they will be reading one chapter per night at home. Please encourage and remind your student to read their daily chapter in either The Iliad or The Odyssey (upper elementary/middle school version). Students have finished their final drafts of their journalism article and are awaiting to see which ones get chosen for publication in the BBS Newsletter. Thanks for your help with those, as students worked on them at home to meet deadlines and the results were excellent!

In Math, Blue Bay students have been working hard to complete their daily lesson goals. 4th grade students are wrapping up their long division and multiplication unit with a test coming up on Monday. 5th graders are working on decimal operations. 6th graders have moved from percentages to base ten operations review. 7th graders are working on percent increase and decrease by applying their knowledge of proportional relationships and decimal operations. Our 8th grader is working on Linear Equations. We have already begun preparations and practice for state testing coming up in May. 

During Buddy Time, students made cards for their ski or snowboard instructors, thanking them for their dedication and assistance with the whole Ski & Ride process. They will give the cards to their instructors this Friday during our final Ski & Ride session (+ Pizza Party).

We have been working on portfolios and wrapping up some projects for conferences. 

In math we are working on understanding and reading bigger numbers. Today students created a series of their own numberlines, which they loved!

In literacy we are working on reading 2 syllable words with open or closed syllables. This takes some flexibility in understanding vowel sounds.

Games and activities to try at home:

• Math – Have students practice counting by 3s, 4s, and 6s.

• Literacy– Have students re-read some of their take home paper books. The goal is to be able to read them smoothly.

In Science we finished our Art in the Community unit and have started Material Magic. In this unit students are exploring the properties of different materials through experiments. On Monday they brought home materials to make hats. Today they used insulating and conducting materials to see which would work better to protect themselves from heat.